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Enduring to the End

Day three of Janathon. I went to kettlebells class and did a 50 or so minutes torture workout. Our instructor, aka Helga, didn’t push us too hard. We did stationary circuits, 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off. She wants to ease us into the new year. I am grateful. Still, my legs remembered the squats of Wednesday. I gotta say that lactic acid is not my friend. Oh, to be Dean Karnazes! I watched an episode of Stan Lee’s “Superhumans” featuring Dean Karnazes a couple of years ago. The show highlights people who have what appear to be supernatural abilities – jumping, running, swimming, super strength, etc. Turns out the more Dean runs, the less lactic acid builds up in his legs. Goody! I’m afraid the rest of us mortals have the opposite problem.

“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”
― Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”― Dean Karnazes

Okay, so Dean is one of my running heroes. I don’t agree with everything he says. Sometimes, giving up is fine. Peachy, in fact. Packing it in for the day means you can get up and go again. Giving up isn’t necessarily a mindset. It can be a temporary condition. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost your grip or passion. You only need to rest and regroup. Like the old song…

Sounds like…Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. – James 1:2-4

Here’s the end clip of the song from “Swing Time”. Lucky (Fred Astaire) pretended to be a klutz in order to get Penny (Ginger Rogers) to pay attention to him. But, you better believe Fred and Ginger had years and years of practice before they could attempt this and make it look so effortless. They float over the floor like they have hidden wings, buoyed up by the joy of movement and the music. The things we pursue and put time into shape us and change us forever. May we become our best selves in the pursuit of our goals.